Michelle Lu - A takedown a week, keeps the research at its peak.

Throughout the 7 weeks that I've been at the lab so far, I have helped dissect a litter of mice approximately once a week. Since my lab is half-spinal-cord and half-gut, I have learned how to dissect everything from the small intestine to the cerebellum, which is pretty cool. The process for each is quite different and I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and practice both. Today, Anna and I perfused and dissected a litter of P6 mice for the spinal cord and cerebellum, and we have definitely come a long way since my first dissection in the lab. If you read my post on week 4, you'll know that I was sorta stunned by seeing a living being die before me. Seeing a mouse go from running around in its cage to pinned down and getting cut open is something I definitely had to take time to adjust to. But at this point, I've become so used to it, I wasn't even phased when I ripped out the organs from a headless mouse and cut off its limbs. Although I'm not entirely sure that's a good thing. Anna mentioned something while we were anesthetizing (is that a word?) one of the mice today, after I whispered "thank you for your service, Mr. Mouse", that I thought we should all appreciate more. Apparently, there is a sculpture in Novosibirsk, Russia of an old mouse knitting a double helix of DNA to pay tribute to the sacrifice of laboratory mice for research, and visiting it just made #1 on my bucket list.

Can we just take a moment of silence.
Image result for monument to the lab mouse

Image result for monument to the lab mouse

Go in peace to love and serve, seniors (that's me!) first.

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Peddie EXP Summer 2018

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